A New Hampshire husband and wife accused of using Chinese nationals in a sex-trafficking operation in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont will be detained at least until next week.
McElwee says Shou Chao Li, 37, and Derong Maio, 37, from Concord, N.H., allegedly targeted Chinese women, luring them to Maine where the couple forced them into prostitution while controlling their movements and keeping them isolated.
The couple sex trafficked at least 27 Chinese women that all had immigration papers listing them as tourists.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Darcie McElwee, the lead prosecutor on the case, says the couple used Wechat, which is popular in China and similar SnapChat, to entice and in some cases coerce women to come to New England.
From July 2016 to February 2018 the couple is accused of renting homes and hotel rooms in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire to prostitute the women including two homes in Portland at 5 Verrill St. and 977 Brighton Ave and several hotel rooms at locations in Portland, South Portland and Scarborough.
The Grand Jury investigation revealed the couple would hold the women in residences or hotel rooms without food, with no access to the rooms so the could not leave and without their immigration papers.
The couple employed others outside of Maine to help them advertise the women on Backpage.com and to communicate with prostitution customers, according to their indictment.
The couple has been charged with one count of conspiracy to engage in interstate transportation and travel for prostitution, two counts of sex trafficking by fraud and coercion and five counts of interstate transportation for prostitution. Li was also charged with possessing a victim's passport as part of the sex trafficking scheme.
The couple face between 15 years and a life sentence for sex trafficking.
This case is still under investigation by the Portland and South Portland Police Departments along with departments from New Hampshire, the FBI and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations division, and multiple other federal agencies.
The couples' detention hearings were delayed Tuesday. McElwee told News Center Maine each of the attorneys indicated they needed more time to speak to their client with an interpreter. They will also meet with the U.S. Probation Officer to find out more about the couples' lives to determine if bail is appropriate.
"We filed a formal detention on both asking the court to detain each defendant depending trial," said McElwee. "The standard is two categories. One involves the risk of flight and one involves if they are a danger to the community. We will be gathering our evidence for our case, that we just presented to the Grand Jury, to prepare information to give to the courts so that we are prepared for that hearing.”
The attorney for Derong Miao declined an interview.
Monday's hearings have been rescheduled for Dec. 27 in Portland, Maine.